Background: 1995 XJ 4.0, AW4, NP 231, blah, blah.
A few years ago, I bashed the crap out of my tranny crossmember on a rock and dented it in pretty good. Despite this, it seemed fairly straight. Since this occurance, it started popping out of 4-low every now and again, which was a major annoyance (and dangerous), especially when climbing. Nothing like instantly being in neutral. This situation has been getting worse and worse until now. It won't stay in 4 low at all now. As soon as you touch the gas, it pops out.
Last night I decided to try to figure out the problem. Adjusting the shift linkage, I can have 2 of the three options. Either I can stay in 4 low or 4 high and not get back into 2 high, or adjusted the other way, so that I can get into 2 high, I have 2 high and 4 high, but it wont stay in 4 low. If I disconnect the linkage entirely and put it in any of the three positions, it will stay there indefinitely. That is fine for technical wheeling, because I can just put it into 4 low and drive around all day, but it would be nice to not have to crawl under the heep anytime I want to get back into 4 high or 2 high. This is driving me crazy! I think I adjusted the linkage about 25 times last night.
The entire drive train seems to be shifted forward about 1/4", as shown by the pivot on the linkage not lining up quite right. Is the tranny mount shot? Do I need a new crossmember? Has anyone experienced this? How do I fix it?
I am at a loss for ideas, any help would be appreciated.
A few years ago, I bashed the crap out of my tranny crossmember on a rock and dented it in pretty good. Despite this, it seemed fairly straight. Since this occurance, it started popping out of 4-low every now and again, which was a major annoyance (and dangerous), especially when climbing. Nothing like instantly being in neutral. This situation has been getting worse and worse until now. It won't stay in 4 low at all now. As soon as you touch the gas, it pops out.
Last night I decided to try to figure out the problem. Adjusting the shift linkage, I can have 2 of the three options. Either I can stay in 4 low or 4 high and not get back into 2 high, or adjusted the other way, so that I can get into 2 high, I have 2 high and 4 high, but it wont stay in 4 low. If I disconnect the linkage entirely and put it in any of the three positions, it will stay there indefinitely. That is fine for technical wheeling, because I can just put it into 4 low and drive around all day, but it would be nice to not have to crawl under the heep anytime I want to get back into 4 high or 2 high. This is driving me crazy! I think I adjusted the linkage about 25 times last night.
The entire drive train seems to be shifted forward about 1/4", as shown by the pivot on the linkage not lining up quite right. Is the tranny mount shot? Do I need a new crossmember? Has anyone experienced this? How do I fix it?
I am at a loss for ideas, any help would be appreciated.
